swamp cooler is up and working
 

it's been 80 degrees plus in my little house so i got the swamp cooler up and working and it was 60 degrees this morning. it was awesome! doesn't take much to cool the house down because it's not that big, but it's nice to cool down a bit.

that should probably add about 10k in equity.

At least. You're probably up to a half mill now, aren't you?

I actually miss my old swamp cooler. Hated getting up on the roof all the time to fix it, but loved the cold air and the low expense.

i think the 2" blinds we had installed put us over the edge. we should probably be able to upgrade within a year...

Have you replaced all of the outlet and light switch covers in your home? That is one small investment that reaps tremendous rewards. (At least that's what homeowners tell me all the time when I ask what improvements they've done.)

when we bought the house the guys who remodeled it switched out a lot of them, but there are still a few that could be done. for now though, there's enough that have been replaced to plug in all we need. so i think if we replaced the remaining light switch and outlet covers, we are looking at 1k or 2k per outlet/switch?

Oh, at least.

You also may want to look into having the windows cleaned. That's free equity, baby.

Another thing to really boost the value of your home is to add a doorbell that can play multiple chimes. It says 'klassy' and it increases the overall value of your home in the 1-2% range. Not bad to install a $20 doorbell yet get back $3-4K in equity.

The thing that drives me nuts about a swamp cooler is if you leave the cereal box open, you will end up having mush. But, it sure is cheaper than AC.

I dunno. I'm afraid some of the places west of 1080 East along your street will always be dragging down the value of your home.

I do like how you've made it look. But if you wake up some morning and the yard just doesn't look right, don't bother driving down my street. Just give me a call and I'll help you find who really took it.

I just spent a week at the home of my in-laws. they have a swamp cooler.

Swamp coolers suck and are terrible options if you do not plan on being within about 15 feet of the actual machine.

Heaven help you if you are heading to the other side of the house or even down in the basement.

I basically had to sleep on the floor really close to the hallway most nights. It was the only way I could cool down.